Step 18: CHEESE!!!!!!!!

Step 19: Final notes.

Before I perfected this recipe I was getting 12-14 ounces of cheese. Lately I get about 16-18 ounces. It probably depends on how much you work it. Wra...

This has been Revised a little bit because some people have had a little trouble with the original. Even I had a few bad batches. The main differences are the times in the microwave. Follow the instructions carefully and you should end up with an almost 100% foolproof batch of Mozzarella Cheese

If you like fresh home made Mozzarella Cheese then try out this Instructable. If you have never had fresh Mozzarella Cheese, try it out any way. There is a world of difference between the packages stuff you buy in the store and the cheese you make yourself. It will only take a couple hours out of your life but it will be well worth it.

There are a lot of recipes on the internet but a lot of them seem to skip an important step or 2 or don't really explain it well enough, so I have made many batches through trial and error combining things that I have learned and experimented with (so you don't have to) and come up with this recipe that seems to work real good.

There are also a lot of recipes out there saying make Mozzarella Cheese in 30 minutes. Realistically, it ain't gonna happen if you want to do it right. Plan on it taking about an hour and a half to 2 hours. As you make more batches you can cut it down to maybe an hour or so.

I use whole milk for mine but you should be able to use skimmed, 1%, or 2% milk also. If you have access to farm fresh milk your even better off and I'm jealous. You can also use goat, buffalo or camel milk.

came out perfectly our very first try, my daughter was thrilled! especially appreciated that your photos and descriptions of the microwaving step let me off the hook after killing the battery in my digital thermometer, thanks!

Just one more question... I used a liquid vegetarian rennet--the same all three times. Is it possible it has gone bad? In doing some additional reading, this is the only thing I can think of. The package said it was double-strength, and I honestly didn't know how much to use. The first few times I used a quarter teaspoon; the third I used close to a half. Maybe it still wasn't enough? I'm probably overthinking this, but I'm about to make another batch, and I hate to sacrifice another gallon of this awesome milk. (It's low-heat pasteurized, organic, non-homogenized milk from a local farm--awesome stuff.)

Well, I made this three times. The first--perfect mozz and ricotta. The second--I totally messed up the temperature, among other things (I almost boiled the milk, added the citric acid and rennet too late, etc.)--still managed some awesome cheese. Third time--I thought I had it all figured out, but I ended up with a pile of mush. The only thing I did differently was that I used about a gallon and a quarter of milk and adjusted the other ingredients accordingly. Anybody out there have any idea what I might have done? I don't believe I over-microwaved it, which is the only explanation I can think of. Sigh... Well, the good news is--my mush pile actually tastes awesome, so I think I'm going to repurpose it as a manicotti filling!

We made this, except we didn't have that film of curd form... it was just broken up curd and stayed like that... so we just continued and followed the steps still, and it still turned out fine and tastes amazing! :D Not sure why my curd stayed watery though!??? Hope it's still good to eat cause we've been eating it! HAHAHA

I had some problem getting it stretchy but it worked okay. I was making butter at the same time and I have to say that it would've been better to only do one project at a time. It tastes good. Nice instructable. My son loves this cheese.

You can make it by putting it in hot water - the water should start off just a tiny bit hotter than what you can stand putting your hands into. My hot from the tap works fine for this, but yours may not be hot enough. (We have out hot water heater on max.) The curd will cool it just enough to be able to work it in the water.

Work it the same way as it says here, in and out of the water, gently squeezing, then stretching and pulling and finally kneading. Kneading is probably a bad word for this, as working it too much will yield tough mozzarella... But the process is the same as rolling a dough ball for pizza... Just do it gently. It doesnt much matter when you're eating it immediately - I haven't been able to make one that came out too tough, even while trying to do exactly that. Of course, I haven't figured out a way to not eat every last bite either, so I haven't been able to test longevity in the fridge. ;-)

Anyway, this is the "old world way" as fresh mozzarella has been around many centuries longer than microwaves. ;-) I haven't tried the microwave way yet, as it's such a no-no in any real cooking... But for this particular process, I can't see it doing any real harm unless you don't pay attention to the times listed...

The trick to getting really good mozzarella is to get all of the whey out of the curd. I work it out like playdough until it is almost dry before i begin stretching it out. A double boiler works a lot better than the microwave for controlling temp and removing whey from curd. Otherwise this tutorial is about perfect.

Just finished my first. While cleaning up I could not resist eating the little bit that was left in the bowl. OMG the taste was so much better than store bought. Next time I will add the second tsp of salt for my taste. Now I must get in the refrigerator for tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and crackers.

Great instructions! Thank you so much for sharing. I've made mozzarella twice now, the first time using a different recipe with good results but not great. This one worked perfect! I also made the Ricotta from the whey following the link provided at the end of this instructable and it was wonderful as well! Tomorrow I will use the whey from the Ricotta to make gjetost as mentioned by another commenter from the ricotta instructable. So, 1 gallon of Milk (2%, store bought from King Soopers/Kroger) = 1 lb mozzarella, ~8 ounces ricotta, and Gjestost!. I've purchased Gjestost from my local store in the past and it was rather pricey! Looking forward to making it as a perk from the mozzarella. I only have Junket Rennet so used 2 tablets as it does not contain as much rennet as other sources.

I've made this several times before - but once in a while it just doesn't want to come together at the end (after microwaving)... I found that by adding some freshly grated parm cheese and stirring rapidly it comes together perfectly...

omg, why? Why isn't this working? I would really like to actually talk to someone as I've wasted about $200. On milk to make a seemingly easy recipe work. And I owned a cookie company! Why can't I get this? I'm seriously so upset

Looking for a little help please. This is my first attempt with this instructable and I followed it word for word but it just didn't work. I have tried to make Mozzarella many times before years back and finally threw in the towel after over 50 attempts, no joke. My wife was tired of me wasting all those gallons of milk. However, I normally made it to the stretching stage but this time I couldn't make the milk curd. At 50 F, I diluted 1 tbs of cheese grade citric acid into 1/4 cup of unchlorinated water and dumped it into one gallon of whole milk and stirred it. I then sprinkled the other tbs of citric acid into the milk and stirred. I then warmed it to 89 F using a gas stove, dumped 1/4 teaspoon of animal liquid rennet in it and stirred for 30 seconds and covered. My problem started here, I could never get a clean break even after 30 minutes. I did cut the curd into squares and heated it to 108 F but it was down hill from there and I ended it dumping it. The only thing that I may have done wrong is that I notice on my bottle of rennet hat it said to mix the rennet with water 20/1 and I did not not. But as far as the temperatures and the times, I was on the money. I have no idea what went wrong, I need help, please help......

It sounds like you may be stirring it to much in the mid to latter stages of the process. And actually you really dont want so much of a "stir" as say just a very quick "mix" with a slow up and down motion as opposed to a tight, quick, circular one. Just a guess.

I've tried 3 times but my cheese never gets stretchy:( I use milk straight from the cow, rain water from our catchment tank, liquid animal rennet but I am using white vinegar because I have no citric acid, is that what's wrong? I get a beautiful break and lovely curds but no creamy mozz! HELP. I'm in Vanuatu, so no place to get the citric acid powder (at least for weeks)...

Hi, I made this cheese today according to your recipe.. it turned out wonderful and shiny and oooey gooey good.. perfect. I did think the cheese was too hot when I was stretching it but when I put the thermometer in it was only 125 degrees.. perfect.. I will do this again, and again, and again..

Hi, I made this cheese today according to your recipe.. it turned out wonderful and shiny and oooey gooey good.. perfect. I did think the cheese was too hot when I was stretching it but when I put the thermometer in it was only 125 degrees.. perfect.. I will do this again, and again, and again..

Yikes! Several times during this process I was second guessing myself. My clean break wasn't as firm as the pic, my curds were small. Never fear, persevere! I'm now eating creamy mozzarella. YUM. Now, if only I could learn to make wine.....

I found this process to be SUPER forgiving. I decided to make this on perhaps the hottest day of the year...the evening temperature was just over 90 degrees. While I never really felt like I got a 'clean" break, I did get a ton of smallish curds that actually looked closer to the final step before draining. I threw in some extra rennet and gave it an extra ten minutes just to be sure, and then just skimmed it off. Even after draining, it had begun to clump up nicely. By the time I had microwaved, it looked just like the picture. No idea how it happened, but I have tasty, stretchy, delicious mozzarella!

Whey is a very valuable by-product of making cheese, but making mozzarella this way means the whey is not suitable for ricotta, believe me, I've tried! Something about acidifying the milk. The whey is great for other stuff though, watering tomatoes, making bread, giving to animals as a beverage.

I have followed this recipe several times and the instructable for making ricotta and have never had a problem with either. The ricotta made from the whey in this recipe is so delicious, I will never use store bought again!

Dear Sir, Thank you for your efforts. I have learned a lot from your site. I have one question about the heating degrees you use in mozzarella recipe, when you mention 50 degrees, do you mean Fahrenheit OR Celsius?

can't wait to try this- a little different then other recipes I've used. Noticed in your picture you used Junket brand Rennet - others have specifically advised against using this brand. have you had any problems with it?

I think you have a choice between liquid and the Junket.I wasn't able to find the liquid by me so I just went with the Junket. I haven't had any real problems with it. It's been a long time since I've made the cheese and I need to make it in the near future so If you have a good recipe send it my way.

We are able to get liquid rennet from a local amish market. I noticed you can substitute the liquid in your recipe but it doesn't give instructions. if I use the liquid how much do I use and will I decrease the water?

Yours is the best recipe I've found for the recipe to actually work. But I've found if milk is borderline, it just doesn't make proper curds and they will never make more than ricotta. Found Trader Joe's Cream Top milk works best for me.